


A Symbol to Show What's Most Important

by Faithful_Sigyn



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Gotham (TV)
Genre: M/M, Oswald's POV, Some Humor, Tattoos, drunken decisions, hopefully anyway, since I normally write from Ed's
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-21 12:45:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11357781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faithful_Sigyn/pseuds/Faithful_Sigyn
Summary: One of those silly little drunken ideas everyone has gets stuck in Edward and Oswald's heads, and the pair find themselves at a tattoo parlour to get themselves marked with something representing 'the most important thing to them'.





	A Symbol to Show What's Most Important

To be honest, Oswald couldn’t completely remember why they’d decided to go through with this. It had definitely been one of those stupid drunken ideas after a late night in the Iceberg Lounge, but for some reason it hadn’t been entirely dismissed and forgotten about by the next morning. There was always the possibility that they had just drank so much the night before that they were still inebriated when the sun woke them, but that didn’t quite seem like a good enough explanation. Mostly because that implied he wasn’t thinking straight when he’d acted, and he’d really rather not have that be the case when it had resulted in a lifelong consequence. He wasn’t regretting it yet but… there was certainly still time for that.

They’d been split into separate rooms as soon as they’d arrived, but Edward and Oswald had had time the previous evening to discuss what they would be getting here. A symbol to represent the most important thing to them - small and elegant, but with a lot of meaning. It had been an easy choice after that, and as Oswald looked down at the delicate green question mark now etched against the inside of his wrist, he was still confident that decision had been the right one. What represented Edward better than that? 

The question was though, what would the other man go for? The umbrella or the penguin? There were probably other options too if he thought more about it, but those two seemed to fit the ‘small and elegant’ definition better than a top hat and monocle, or a crudely drawn iceberg. He was actually quite excited to see it now, and he found himself drifting off into his own thoughts as he waited for Edward to reemerge, trying to fathom out what thought process Ed would use to get to his conclusion. He didn’t claim to be able to understand his friend’s mind entirely, but he knew Edward better than most - if anyone could work him out, it was Oswald.

He was quite thoroughly distracted when the door across from him finally opened, and Edward came sashaying out of the adjoining room with an expression of gleeful excitement, the novelty of the new mark on his wrist still felt in full force apparently. Oswald smiled at him as he slowly stood to meet the approaching figure, holding out his own arm without prompting. **“As promised,”** he began, assuming the question mark itself would be enough context to frame his words.

Ed finally looked up from his own skin to grin at Oswald’s, the expression far more childish than the proud smirk on the smaller man’s face, but that was hardly unusual for them. **“Oh you got that too, huh?”**

Oswald’s smile faltered just slightly. No, he must have just misheard that. **“May I see yours?”**

With an overly dramatic flourish, Ed held out his arm in front of Oswald, copying his partner’s proud expression in a way Oz would normally have taken as just teasing, but which suddenly felt like mockery. Because sure enough, in exactly the same spot as Oswald’s, in the centre of his wrist, resided a perfect green question mark.

A tiny voice in Oswald’s head reminded him he should not be at all surprised by this, but it wasn’t loud enough to break through the stunned silence the rest of his thoughts had settled into. **“You got… your own symbol.”**

**“Yes! The thing that’s most important to us, remember? And what represents me better than the mark of a question?”** Ed was back to tracing his own tattoo with his index finger as Oswald stared down at it, dumbstruck by this twist of events. 

He really shouldn’t have been surprised, it really shouldn’t be a shock. Of course the most important thing to Edward was himself. And yet… **“Yes but the point was supposed to be-”** He cut himself off, taking a deep inhale through his nose and closing his eyes for a moment. No need to lose his temper here. It wouldn’t get him anywhere anyway. He forced a smile onto his lips as he opened his eyes again, one his enemies would recognise as false but that Edward never seemed to pay too much attention to anyway. **“You know what? No. It’s fine. It’s good. I’m glad you’re happy.”**

As usual, Ed was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to catch on to exactly what it was he’d done wrong here. And besides, he’d never been very good at tones and expressions, so even if he’d been focusing entirely in the right place, he probably wouldn’t be completely aware of the situation he’d found himself in. **“Aren’t you? Did yours not turn out how you wanted it?”** The poetry of Oswald choosing The Riddler's symbol over his own was apparently lost on Ed for the moment, while he honed in on his own miniature artwork. Maybe it would hit him later. 

**“Something like that,”** Oswald replied with a purposefully pointed tone. **“But it’s an easy fix.”** After all, with another curve on the other side and a little flick at the bottom, it would be quite easy to turn his own tattoo into an umbrella. And maybe when Edward finally clocked onto the magnitude of Oswald’s gesture here, he’d be able to watch the other man beg him not to have it covered up. 

That would almost make this worth it actually.


End file.
